The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1887-06-15
RAILROAD DISCRIMINATION,
now IT AFFECTS ~ E DEVELoPAIENT
OF SOUTH CAROLINA.


Tho Address Delivered Before the state
Press Association, by VIM. NJ. Jones,
Esq, Editor of The Spartanburg U"raId.
The press Of South Carolina has
strongly counsellcd diversity of crops
and diversity of industry. 1t has done
so forcibly, repeatedly, almost unani-
mously, but without avail. 1t is not my
purpose tonight to adduce arguments
to support tho wisdom of this counsel,
but to seek the cause which has made it
so barren Of results and to seek a
remedy.
UNJUST RAILROAD DISCRIMISATION.
The prime cause Of our continuance
in our pernicious course lies in the policy
of the railroads of unjust discrimination
against our homo industries in favor of
their foreign competitors.
HOME AND 'roREIGN" TREIGHrS.
1t appears on the surface that the
prosperity of a railroad depends on the
prosperity Of the country which sup
ports it. This is partial fallacy. 1t is
the interest OF the people to buy nothing
which they can make protitably; it is to
the interest of the railroads for the peo-
pie to buy every thing abroad, and raise
cotton only to pay the debt; to have no
local factories, to produce nothing which
they consume. Before tho War OF Sc
cession, when the people produced What
they used and used what they made,
there was little demand for railroad ser
vice, and their traffic WAS light.
Now, when we bring our meat from
Ohio, our corn from Indiana, our ilour
from Illinois, our molasses from ICusi-
ana, our shoes from Massachusetts, and
our clothing from New York, and when
we ship our whole cotton crop to pay
the debt, the traffic of the transportation
companies has become immense The
production Of these things at home
would materially diminish the business
of the railroads Hence it is the int rest
of the railroads to suppress all homo
manufactures and shut up agriculture to
cotton planting alone. In this clnss of
interests tho railroad managers have not
scrupled to sacrifice the welfare OF the
State. They have accomplished their
purpose by an cXhorbitant and Outrage
Gus discrimination against State enter
prises i'll favor OF their foreign CON peti-
tors.
CRUSHING THE HOME MARKETS.
In this day Of sharp rivalry the mar
gin of profits, without which no indus
try can live, has become so narrow chat
the freight rates control its existence. y
low freight may fostor, high freight
will stranglc It,
But profits rest even moro absolutely
on competition, and this, too, dep nds
on the arbitrary will OF the railroad
rulers. | may secure II just and reason
able freight rate under which my Nusi-
ness can prosper; ii railroads please to
favor my competitor with lower rates he
can underscll me, draw away my Gust ON,
ruin my business and drive mo from the
field. 1t is thus that the giant Standard
Oil monopoly was built up and its strug-
Cling rivals crushed to death. 1t is thus
that the giant factories of the North are
able to stranglc our struggling factories
in their infancy.
The discrimination practiced against
the shippers in South Carolina is enough
to paralyAo almost any enterprise.
SOME PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATIONS.
gentleman contemplated the cStab-
lishment Of a fertilizer factory in Spar
tanburg. 1t is found that the freight
rate from Spartanburg to Wexford, dis
tant on the Piedmont Air Line II miles,
is $3.50 n carload, or STAG mile; the
rate from Richmond, Va, is 10 cents n
mile, discrimination Of nearly | 400
per cent. in favor of the foreign shipper.
There could he no claim by the railroad
in this case for extra expense i'll hGnd
ling, for the shipper is required to load
his own car, and the railroad Is to haul
it at its convenience. The rate to
Pacolet, on the Spartanburg and Union
Road, II miles distant, Is the same,
$3.50 o carload.
We have in Spartanburg struggling
door and blind factory. The freight to
Greenvillc, thirty.two miles distant, on
the Atlanta and Charlotte Air Line is
$32 carload, or 81 mile. The same
freight from Now York to Greenville is
IL cents per mile.
These instances are not exceptional,
and / have mentioned Spartanburg only
because the rates there were moro easily
attainable. Other cities will be found
in like circumstance, and other rates in
like proportion. Instances could be
multiplied indefinitely. BY reference to
the report of the South Carolina railroad
commission we find that the average rate
charged to foreign shipper, Greenyille
and Columbia Railroad, for each to- of
freight was nine mills per mile for
South Carolina shipper to home con
sumers tifty-six mills per mile, n dis
elimination OF nearly 800 per cent.
against our South Carolina producers.
Is it strange that i'll the face OF such dis
crimination our local enterprises Ian.
guish and die, and foreign factories
usurp our home market?
SPECIAL RATES FoR COTTON FACTORIES.
There is one class OF factories which
have been iostered by the railroads, and
they have proSpercd. They arc the cot
ton factories. Their products are not
specially intended for home consump-
ton. Their goods are shipped princi.
pally to foreign markets, and their
growth does not diminish railroad h'ts4r
ness, but rather stimulates the produc
tion OF the export crop. Hence the rail,